Perpetual calendar



Aug. 1939- c. w. HILLCOURT 2,170,408

PERPETUAL CALENDAR Filed July 6, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 J LL J8D g5 U E TPE a; g

INI "EN TOR. @mm W 6444600477 A TTORNE X5.

Patented Aug. 22, 1939 PATENT OFFICE PERPETUAL CALENDAR Carrol W. Hillcourt, San Francisco, Calif.

Application July 6, 1937, Serial No. 152,080

7 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in perpetual calendars and its principal object is to provide a calendar of the character described that is comparatively simple in construction and can be produced at a reasonable cost.

More particularly it is proposed to provide a motor-driven calendar indicating the time of the day, the day of the week, the date of the month, the month and the year and which automatically effects all changes necessitated by the progress of time for an indefinite period.

It is further proposed, as an important part of the invention, to make provision for operating a date dial in such a manner that at the beginning of each month it occupies the same initial position, regardless of the length of the preceding month.

It is further proposed to provide a drive between the date dial and a month dial for advancing the latter in equal impulses regardless of the length of the month and to provide a counter-connection between the month dial and the date dial whereby the former becomes instrumental in advancing the latter where this is necessary to compensate for months having less than 31 days.

It is further proposed to provide suitable means to compensate for leap years whereby the device is made to automatically adjust itself to the irregularity of the extra day and continues to give correct data relating to time in leap years as well as in other years.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will appear as the specification proceeds.

The preferred form of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 shows a front view of my perpetual calendar,

Fig. 2 a vertical longitudinal section taken immediately behind the front cover of the calendar,

Fig. 3 a development of a cylindrical month dial and cam attached thereto,

Fig. 4 an enlarged detail view of a ratchet drive as viewed from line 4-4 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 5 an enlarged detail view, in front elevation, of a cam sleeve operating the ratchet drive,

Fig. 6 an enlarged detail view, in front elevation, of a month dial drive mechanism,

Fig. '7 a transverse section taken along line 11 of Fig. 6, and

Fig. 8 a development of a date dial used in my device.

While I have shown only the preferred form of the invention I wish to have it understood that various changes or modifications may be made within the scope of the claims attached hereto without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Referring to the drawings in detail, my calendar may be accommodated in a preferably rectangular box 40 of suitable dimensions, the front wall of which is provided with suitable windows 4!, 42, 43, 44 and 45, through which the data relating to time appears, as shown in Fig. 1. Throughout the drawings the particular time 10 selected for illustrative purposes is Saturday, February 27, 1937, at the hour of 1 oclock a. m.

The mechanism includes five different dials mounted on cylindrical faces and hereinafter referred to as the hour dial it, the week dial 41, the month dial 48, the date dial 49 and the year dial 50.

The entire mechanism is driven by the motor 51, which through reduction gearing not shown, drives the horizontal shaft 52 to make one revolution per 24 hours. The shaft is secured with freedom of sliding movement as shown at 53, and carries the clock or hour dial 46 which is suitably calibrated to indicate the time of the day. The motor shaft 54, which rotates at the same speed, 25 operates the week dial 5? through a one-tooth gear, 55, driving a seven-tooth gear 56, so as to give to the week dial seven rotary impulses during a week for effecting one complete revolution during that interval.

Above shaft 52 and running parallel thereto I provide a stub shaft 51 which has the date dial 49 mounted thereon. The date dial is calibrated to show 31 subdivisions corresponding to the number of days of the longest months, and it has 35 four gear wheels 0., b, c and :1 fixed relative thereto, the gear wheels being fixed relative to one another so as to form a single unit. The gear wheel a has 31 teeth corresponding to the number of days of the longest months, the gear wheel I) has 30 teeth, the gear wheel 0 29 teeth and the gear wheel d 28 teeth. The teeth of all the gear Wheels register and in fact may be connected at certain points as shown in 25 in Fig. 8 which may be considered the starting position, but immediately ahead of the starting teeth certain teeth are missing, one in gear Wheel b, two in gear wheel 0 and 3 in gear wheel (1, and tooth 2! of gear wheel (1 is connected, by a diagonal bar 56 and through tooth 22 of gear wheel 0 and tooth 23 of gear wheel b with tooth 24 of gear wheel a. The gear Wheels are operated by means of a one-tooth gear 59 on the shaft 52 which latter may be shifted axially for effecting engagement of gear 59 with 55 any one of the four gear wheels associated With the date dial.

The month dial 48 is mounted on a shaft 50 running parallel to shaft 51 and is suitably calibrated to indicate the months of the year. It is advanced one step each month and is driven by means operated by the date wheel 99, including a ratchet 6 l a plunger 62 and a series of cams a, b, c and d on the shaft 51. When the one tooth gear 59 is in engagement with gear wheel a of the date dial, as in a 31 day month, cam a is opposite the plunger and lifts the same at the end of the 31st day. When, however, the onetooth gear 59 is in engagement with gear wheel :1 of the date dial, as shown in the drawings for the month of February (Fig. 2) cam d is opposite the plunger, and since cam d is three points in advance of cam a, it begins to lift the plunger three days sooner, that is, at the end of the 28th day of February. The same applies of course to the intermediate cams and gear wheels which represent 29 and 30 day months respectively. The four cams form a unit and shift with the shaft 52 which is connected to the cams by means of an arm 63 projecting from the shaft and having a forked end 54 engaging a grooved collar 65 of the cam unit. (See Fig. 5.)

The month wheel 48 is in the form of a cylinder and has a cam face at its outer end, the cam being shown developed in Fig. 3 and having flat end sections 56 for the months having 31 days, shallow grooves 6'! for the months having 30 days and groove 58 of three times the depth for the month of February in ordinary years. Opposite this cam face is mounted a plunger 69 having a spring 10 urging a roller H at the front end of the plunger upon the cam.

The plunger operates a lever 12, pivoted as at 13, and the latter operates the shaft 52 through a fork and collar arrangement shown at 14.

The device thus far described operates as follows: It is set for, according to the drawing, Saturday, February 27, 1937, one oclock a. In. The one-tooth gear 59 has just passed the tooth 20 of the gear wheel d and the roller ll of the plunger 69 in the deepest cam groove 68 of the month dial. The shaft 52 keeps rotating at the rate of one revolution per day, moving the clock dial to indicate the correct time during the day. Toward the end of the day the one tooth wheel 59 completes another revolution, engages the next tooth 2|, turns the date dial to indicate the 28th of February and gear wheel 55 turns the Week dial to indicate Sunday.

During the 28th of February the one-tooth gear 59 turns through another revolution and toward the end of the day it engages tooth 22 for turning the date dial another step so that the latter normally would indicate the 29th. But at the same time the cam d on the shaft 51 reaches the plunger 62 and lifts the same to rotate the ratchet 5| which causes the month dial to turn from February to March. As the month dial turns, the roller H of the plunger 59 is forced out of the grooves 68, causing the plunger to recede, which movement is transmitted, through the lever 32, to the shaft 52, which advances to the right, as viewed in Fig. 2, and causes the single tooth of gear wheel 59 to slide from tooth to tooth along the diagonal bar 59 until it reaches the gear wheel a. During this sidewise movement of the tooth on the gear 59 the date dial 39 is turned three more points so that instead of showing the 29th, it will show the first of the next month.

At the same time the arm 63 advances the four cams, a, b, c, d so that now the cam a is opposite the plunger 62.

This position of the shaft 52 will be maintained during March, which is a 31 day month and the operation will be readily understood. As the month wheel is turned from March to April, which is a 30 day month, the roller H at the end of the plunger enters one of the shallow grooves 61 which causes the shaft 52 to move to the left (Fig. 2) for engaging the one-tooth gear 59 with gear wheel b while correspondingly the cam b is brought opposite the plunger 62. At the end of this month the operation will be the same as at the end of February, except that only one day has to be bridged.

A particular problem is offered by leap years which give 29 days to the month of February. To solve this problem I provide a 29 day wheel 0 on the date dial 49 and a corresponding cam c on the shaft 51. With this arrangement it is only necessary to provide the proper movement for the shaft 52 for the February of the leap year, which I accomplish by lessening the depth of the February groove during leap years. As stated, the normal depth of the groove is three times that of the shallow grooves and during leap years I cause a plunger E5 which is slidably mounted in the web of the month wheel 48 (see Fig. 6) to enter the groove to lessen the depth thereof to twice the depth of the shallow grooves.

The plunger E5 is normally held in inactive position by the spring 15. But behind the plunger and at the same radial distance from the shaft 60, is mounted a sliding shaft T! which is urged into retracted position by a spring 78, but which is gradually forced forward during a four year period by means of a worm 79 on the shaft 60 engaging a pin 80 which latter passes transversely through the shaft 11 with freedom of sliding motion and is normally urged into engagement with the worm by a spring 8|. The shaft 69 revolves once a year and the worm has; four turns so that the pin is made to advance from one end of the worm to the other in a four year period. The drawing indicates the position which would be occupied by the pin in February 1937', the pin having advanced through one turn of the worm and being in alinement with the plunger 75, but still spaced therefrom.

The passing of three further years finds the pin advanced by three more turns of the worm, and when thus advanced the shaft Ti pushes the plunger 15 into the groove 68 to lessen the depth thereof for purposes previously explained. The shaft TI is provided with a mushroom head 82 because the head strikes theplunger 15 from the side as the plunger approaches in a. circumferential path. 7

After the month of February has passed the pin 89 is lifted out of the worm groove by a cam 83 at the front end of the worm and is held in retracted position by a second transverse pin 89 which snaps into a recess (see Fig. 7) in the pin 80 under the influence of a leaf spring 85. Now the pin 80 clears the worm groove and the sliding shaft TI is returned immediately to an initial position by the spring l8, a suitable stop 8! being provided to limit the return movement. The cross-pin 84 is provided, at its outer end, with a grooved collar 88, which on its return movement is engaged by a forked cam 89 for lifting the cross-pin 84 out of the recess 85 and permitting the pin 80 to return to its worm engaging position under the influence of the spring 8| so that the latter pin is now set for slow advancement during the next four year period.

While the shaft 11 is in advanced position the plunger 15 is forced into the groove 68, lessening the depth thereof and causing the lever 12 to move the single tooth gear 59 into engagement with the 29 day gear Wheel andv the corresponding cam c opposite the plunger 62 so that the month dial moves from February to March on the 29th of February instead of the 28th.

I claim:

1. In a perpetual calendar, a revolvable date dial having a gear thereon with 31 teeth and a one-tooth gear engageable with the former gear for turning the same, means for rotating the one tooth gear once a day whereby the first gear is completely rotated during a 31 day month, a second gear on the date dial having 30 teeth registering With same number of teeth on the first gear, means for shifting the one-tooth gear into engagement with the 30 teeth gear for eifecting an incomplete revolution during a 30 day month, and a cam connecting a tooth of the 30 tooth gear with a tooth one step in advance of the 31 tooth gear, the cam being engageable by the single tooth for completing the full revolution of the dial when. the one-tooth gear is shifted into engagement with the 31 tooth gear.

2. In a perpetual caendar, a revolvable date dial having a plurality of gear sections mounted coaxially therewith and a cam running diagonally across the gear sections to interconnect non-registering teeth of the sections.

3. In a perpetual calendar, a revolvable date dial, shiftable means for revolving the same at the rate of one revolution per month, a month dial, means for imparting a rotary impulse to the latter for each revolution of the date dial, a cam on the month dial and means operated by the cam for operating the shiftable means, the cam comprising a cylindrical member having grooves cut into one end thereof.

4. In a perpetual calendar, a revolvable date dial, shiftable means for revolving the same at the rate of one revolution per month, a month dial, means for imparting a rotary impulse to the latter for each revolution of the date dial, a cam on the month dial and means operated by the cam for operating the shiftable means, the cam comprising a cylindrical member having flat end sections for the thirty-one day months and camfaced grooves between the fiat sections for the shorter months.

5. In a perpetual calendar, a revolvable date dial, shiftable means for revolving the same at the rate of one revolution per month, a month dial, means for imparting a rotary impulse to the latter for each revolution of the date dial, a cam on the month dial and means operated by the cam for operating the shiftable means, the cam comprising a cylindrical member having flat end sections for the thirty-one day months, camfaced grooves for the thirty day months and a deeper cam-faced groove for the month of February.

6. In a perpetual calendar, a revolvable date dial, shiftable means for revolving the same at the rate of one revolution per month, a month dial, means for imparting a rotary impulse to the latter for each revolution of the date dial, a cam on the month dial and means operated by the cam for operating the shiftable means, the cam comprising a cylindrical member having flat end sections for the thirty-one day months, camfaced grooves for the thirty day months and a deeper cam-faced groove for the month of February with means for raising the bottom of the deeper groove to an intermediate level during a leap year.

7. In a perpetual calendar, a revolvable cylindrical month dial having a cam face in one end thereof including a February cam groove, means for revolving the dial once a year, a plunger slidable with respect to the bottom of the groove and means for advancing the plunger into the groove each fourth year to lessen the depth thereof.

CARROL W. HILLCOURT. 

